The present invention relates generally to devices for indicating substance properties and characteristics. More particularly, disclosed herein is a device, such as a stopper, for detecting and indicating properties and characteristics of a fluid contained in a bottle.
The taste of wine can be adversely affected in numerous ways. Some contaminating effects can take hold while the wine remains sealed in its bottle by a cork. Others tend to attack the taste quality of the wine only after the wine bottle has been opened as by removing the cork. In each case, however, it is difficult to perceive the taint visually. As a result, tasting is typically the only means by which one can hope to determine whether the wine has been tainted.
Of course, the typical consumer can open and taste wine only after he or she has actually purchased the bottle of wine and brought it home. Furthermore, certain types of wine taint are difficult to perceive or identify, particularly by the non-expert, even upon tasting. With this, even after tasting, the wine taster may merely find wine unsuitable for consumption or at least less than ideal in taste without being able to confirm with certainty that the wine is tainted or to discern particularly how the wine is tainted.
One unfortunately common type of wine taint is commonly referred to as cork taint, xe2x80x9ccorkingxe2x80x9d or being xe2x80x9ccorked.xe2x80x9d Corking can occur to varying degrees. Furthermore, threshold sensitivity to corking varies from individual to individual. As a result, one person may be able to perceive and identify corking in a given bottle while another person tasting the same wine might either not be able to identify how the wine is tainted or may not be able to perceive the taint at all. It is said that the most perceptive five per cent of the population are about 200 times more sensitive than the bottom five per cent. This is true not only with regard to cork taint but also with regard to other tainting effects.
The incidence of cork taint is sporadic and random. However, when it takes hold, it can be quite aggressive. Research has recorded the incidence of cork taint to vary between three and five per cent. It can strike any wine regardless of price or type. Since it takes effect after bottling, it cannot be detected until the bottle is opened. Cork taint manifests itself as very undesirable aroma and flavor characters that are imparted to bottled wines following contact with their cork. The chemical compound contributing most significantly to cork taint is 2,4,6 trichloroanisole or TCA, which is implicated in more than 80 per cent of cork tainted wines. However, at least five other compounds also can contribute to cork taint. They are guaiacol, geosmin, 2-methylisobomeol (MIB), octen-3-ol, and octen-3-one.
Aside from guaiacol, each compound is sensorially very potent. For example, research indicates that TCA can be detected in dry white wine and sparkling wines at levels of roughly two parts per trillion, which approximately equals 0.000000000002 grams in a liter of wine, and in red and port wines at around five parts per trillion. Some of the other compounds have sensory thresholds of approximately 20 parts per trillion. When so bad as to be readily perceptible, TCA typically has a musty, moldy or wet Hessian character. MIB and geosmin have an earthy/muddy aroma; guaiacol is smoky or medicinal; and octen-3-ol and octen-3-one are said to smell of tinned mushrooms.
The production of TCA is the result of rather complex chemical mechanisms. The most fundamental of these is the conversion of chlorophenols to chloroanisole by common microscopic fungi and possibly yeasts and bacteria in the presence of moisture. Unfortunately, chlorophenols have been used as pesticides and as wood preservatives. Consequently, they are common environmental pollutants. The uptake of even minute amounts of chlorophenol by the bark of a cork tree at any stage during its growth can yield corks that will produce cork taint in wine. The same is true if the cork is exposed to chlorophenols during manufacture. Also, cork taint can be the result of an interaction of TCA from the moulds naturally occurring in the tree bark, with chlorine, a chemical used to sanitize the cork. To be complete, one will note that, for similar reasons, TCA can be a major contaminant of many other foods and beverages.
In practice, whether corking will actually infect a bottle of wine depends on a plurality of factors. Among those factors are the fit in the bottleneck, the corking device clamp, and the quality and dimensions of the cork. Of these, the most important issue is the quality of the cork. In bottled wine, glass is the only inert element. The cork is not. As such, it is subject to attack by moths and moulds, which are the natural inhabitants of corks. The dominant types of moulds in long-life corks are Aspergillum and Penicillium. Moulds are naturally present in corks at bottling while the presence of yeasts and bacteria in commercial corks is relatively infrequent.
There have been some attempts at improvements in cork processing and storage. For example, some practitioners have ceased using bleach as a cork treatment during processing, which is useful since, as was discussed above, the reaction of chlorine with a mold-produced compound is a major factor in TCA production. Unfortunately, even these practices have failed to eliminate cork taint.
Of course, a number of further factors beyond cork taint can affect the taste and quality of wine. For example, empty space between the cork and wine is necessary to absorb moderate thermal changes. However, where air occupies that empty space, an excessive amount of space will increase the oxidation of the wine while in the bottle while too little air space decreases the wine""s ability to withstand temperature changes thereby causing regurgitations. To prevent this, most wine today is bottled without air in an inert atmosphere of nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas.
Another characteristic that can affect the taste and quality of wine is volatile acidity, which is commonly referred to as VA. Volatile acids include acetic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, and others. Ethyl acetate is basically a sign of degradation in wine quality and is the dominant ester in numerous wines. It is held more responsible for the souring characteristic than acetic acid (vinegar) itself, and its perception threshold is estimated at being between 180 and 200 mg/l. VA""s can be sensed, such as by one""s nose, in the gas-occupied space above wine and by tasting since they are fixed in the wine. Many sources can give rise to these volatile components. Generally, however, they are the result of spoilage yeasts or bacteria that are allowed to proliferate in the wine. Once present, these are difficult to remove. Like many other characteristics of wine, VA""s to varying degrees can be desired by some but disliked by others.
Still another potential factor affecting the taste and quality of wine is brettanomyces, which is a yeast. Brettanomyces is commonly indicated by the presence of 4-ethyl phenol and 4-ethyl guaiacol. Some wine drinkers disdain the presence of brettanomyces in wine while others find its taste pleasurable.
An even further component that can affect wine is acetaldehyde such that it may be termed aldehydic. It is common for sherry to be aldehydic. However, an acetaldehyde character in red or white wine is generally considered undesirable. This character can be nutty, musty, or swampy. Wines with this flaw have often been exposed to too much oxygen. To a limited degree, acetaldehyde can be desirable but can be unpleasant when excessive where the wine may simply be considered oxidized.
Hydrogen sulfide, commonly found in sewer gas and emitted by rotten eggs, results in wine from an inability of yeasts to deal properly with amino acid synthesis. It can also result from a reaction with sulfur, a common fungicide. Wine containing hydrogen sulfide is often referred to as being reduced. Mercaptans are closely related and are more garlicky or oniony in character. They are sulfur compounds and result from a reaction of ethanol in the wine with hydrogen sulfide.
From the foregoing, it will be clear that many of reactions and other effects can and do take hold of wine prior to opening. However, by exposing its contents to air, the opening of a bottle of wine typically triggers what may be considered a secondary fermentation and a far more rapid degradation of wine quality and taste. Even further, though, one will note that it is desirable to allow a wine to breathe for a given amount of time, such as a few minutes to as much as one or two hours, to allow for certain volatile components to be dispensed. Removal of such volatile components improves the taste and bouquet of wine.
Disadvantageously, with prolonged exposure to air, wine is subject to the effects of a number of reactions and contaminants including roughly 200 yeast spores. With this, exposure to ambient air causes oxidation with a consequent production of excessive acids and changes in the taste, aroma, and color of the wine. As a result, the contents must be consumed in a reasonably short period of time to prevent spoilage from rendering the wine unfit for consumption.
In light of the foregoing, one will appreciate that many factors can affect the taste and quality of wine. Some factors, such as excessive oxidation, can render a wine unfit for consumption by any person. Others, depending on the degree to which they have taken hold, can cause a wine to be desirable to one person yet undesirable to another person.
Unfortunately, at present, it appears that the determination of whether and to what degree a given effect has taken hold of a bottle of wine cannot be accomplished without the bottle""s being opened and its contents examined. With this, a wine consumer must purchase or at least open the wine before he or she can even hope to determine, by way of example, whether corking has taken place or whether and to what degree brettanomyces is present in the wine. Furthermore, even when the bottle has been opened, determining whether wine is corked or the extent to which other substances are present in the wine typically requires tasting by one with an educated and sensitive palate or testing by relatively complex procedures.
With these things in mind, it has become apparent to the present inventors that it would be desirable to provide a device and method for enabling a wine consumer to perceive whether a volume of wine in a bottle has been affected by a given factor, such as cork taint, oxidation, or any one of a plurality of potentially detrimental or desirable factors. It would be still more desirable to provide such a method and device that could indicate, not only whether a given factor is present, but also the degree to which it has taken hold. Even more preferable would be a device and corresponding method that would allow a wine consumer to perceive simultaneously whether a plurality of different factors have taken place in wine and, if so, the extent to which the wine has been affected.
Advantageously, the present invention sets forth with the broadly stated object of providing a device for detecting and providing an indication regarding one or more fluid properties of a fluid retained in a bottle that solves each of the problems left by the prior art while providing a number of heretofore unrealized advantages thereover.
In achieving this object, one preferred embodiment of the present invention essentially comprises a body member and a fluid property detecting substance operably associated with the body member for detecting and providing an optical indication regarding one or more properties of the fluid retained in the bottle. The body member can have an open inner volume and the fluid property detecting substance can be disposed therein. A wall portion of the body member can comprise a semi-permeable barrier for allowing a one-way flow of fluid retained in the bottle into the open inner volume of the body member. Preferably, an outer wall of the body member will be translucent for enabling a user to view the optical indication provided by the volume of fluid property detecting substance.
The fluid property detecting substance can test for one or more of a plurality of properties including levels of acidity, cork taint, hydrogen sulfide, and additionally or alternatively brettanomyces yeast. Where cork taint is to be detected, the detecting substance can be calibrated to indicate the presence of excessive levels of 2, 4, 6 trichloroanisole (TCA), guaiacol, geosmin, 2-methylisoborneol (MlB), octen-3-ol, and/or octen-3-one.
The body member of the device can comprise a stopper with a generally cylindrical body portion for being disposed in a neck portion of the bottle. In such a case, the body portion can be formed by a first annular segment that is coupled to a second annular segment by a tubular member, and a plurality of annular fins can project from the tubular member for providing an improved seal between the body member and the neck portion of the bottle.
In an alternative embodiment, the stopper can have a body member formed of, for example, cork or a polymeric material. In this embodiment, the stopper can be impregnated with the fluid property detecting substance. In a still further refinement, the body portion can be divided into a plurality of sections. Each section can be impregnated with a fluid property indicating substance that is calibrated to test for and indicate a different property of the fluid retained by the bottle. With this, the plurality of sections of the stopper can be employed for detecting and indicating different types of properties, different levels of the same property, or both.
In yet another embodiment, the device can have an open inner volume divided into a plurality of wedge-shaped compartments, and each wedge-shaped compartment can retain a volume of fluid property indicating substance. With this, the fluid property indicating substance of each of the plurality of wedge-shaped compartments can be calibrated to test for and indicate a different property of the fluid retained by the bottle.
One will appreciate that the foregoing discussion merely outlines the more important features of the invention to enable a better understanding of the detailed description that follows and to instill a better appreciation of the inventor""s contribution to the art. Before an embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it must be made clear that the following details of construction, descriptions of geometry, and illustrations of inventive concepts are mere examples of the many possible manifestations of the invention.